By: Emma Honn

We have all heard it before: to be a public relations professional, you have to be a creative storyteller, think outside of the box and be quick on your feet. There’s still not much talk about being analytical. As technology develops and our means of communication becomes more sophisticated, PR professionals must begin to think about how data can provide value to their work.

Strategic storytelling 

People have a hard time believing what companies say about themselves. Facts can substantiate a claim, but using data alone does not build a personality for your brand. Creative storytelling can be amplified by incorporating facts along the way, and bringing credibility to a message will help audiences believe and trust in your brand. Research and data can also help in measuring attitudes before and after a PR effort. It’s a win-win situation on both sides. Remember, being a creative storyteller is one thing, but incorporating analytical thinking into storytelling is another. 

Connecting with your audience

Often times, we believe that being creative and having great ideas will lead to success. While that may be true, there has to be a way to measure how well the great idea actually performed. By using big data, we can understand how audiences have reacted to a certain idea or campaign, or if they behaved in a certain way because of PR strategies. The element of measurement that big data offers allows PR professionals to be strategic in decision making. Instead of guessing what target audiences want or how they think, big data offers improved insights about what our audiences did, what they want and what they expect. 

A seat at the table

We can also use big data to conduct attitudinal and behavioral research. This is essential to the success of a campaign or initiatives that PR professionals develop. By conducting attitudinal and behavioral research before and after a campaign, we can see how well our campaign actually performed.

It seems like, nowadays, PR professionals are standing in the corner instead of sitting at the table. Professionals are having a hard time proving what PR is worth to an organization, but having cold hard data to show the C-suite will prove the worth of any PR team, and show that we are a vital and valuable part of every company. 

When students get into PR, they think, “No more math! I get to be creative all the time!” This may have been true 30 years ago, but with the developments in technology and communication, a background in data is more important than ever. If PR is going to have a seat at the table, build stronger relationships with their audiences and amplify communications, data must be in the conversation.